There are two new HMC (V7.7.3.0) commands that can force a client Virtual Fibre Channel adapter to log into a SAN. This should make the life of the AIX and SAN administrator easier, as they will no longer need to install AIX in order for the new VFC adapters to log into the SAN. Although there was an unsupported method* for doing this already (see links below). Nor will the SAN admins need to “blind” zone the WWPNs.

The new lsnportlogin and chnportlogin commands on the 7.730 HMC provide the ability to utilize the new function in the VIOS. From the Readme:

Added the chnportlogin and lsnportlogin commands.

1.The chnportlogin command allows you to perform N Port login and logout operations for virtual fibre channel client adapters that are configured in a partition or a partition profile. Use this command to help you in zoning WWPNs on a Storage Area Network (SAN). A login operation activates all inactive WWPNs, including the second WWPN in the pair assigned to each virtual fibre channel client adapter. This feature is particularly useful for Logical Partition Migration. A logout operation deactivates all WWPNs not in use. A successful login of a virtual fibre channel adapter requires that the corresponding virtual fiber channel server adapter must exist and that it must be mapped.

The iSCSI
software target driver enables AIX® to act as one iSCSI target device or as
several iSCSI target devices. The iSCSI target driver exports local disks,
logical volumes, or local files to iSCSI initiators that connect to AIX using
the iSCSI protocol and TCP/IP.

Each target
device has an iSCSI Qualified Name and a set of logical unit numbers (LUNs)
that are available to initiators that connect to the virtual iSCSI target. For
each target device, you can specify which network interface and which TCP/IP
port numbers the target driver can use to accept incoming connections.

Note:
You need to have the iSCSI target fileset installed. The fileset name is
devices.tmiscsw.rte and the fileset is contained on the AIX Expansion pack.

To
configure an iSCSI target driver, complete the following steps:

Create
a single instance of the iSCSI target driver using the following SMIT
path. This instance acts as a container for the other iSCSI objects.

Define
one or more LUNs for each target device using the following SMIT path:

Note:
The LUNs are accessible by initiators that connect to a virtual target. On the
iSCSI target, each LUN can be associated with either a previously defined
logical volume, with a physical volume, or with a file previously created on a
local file system. Any physical volume that is associated with an iSCSI target
logical unit cannot be used in any other way by the AIX system that is running
the iSCSI target driver.

Devices
> iSCSI > iSCSI Target Device > iSCSI Target LUNs

This
step generally completes the configuration. However, if you are using Challenge
Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP), or if you are using Access Control
Lists (ACLs) to indicate which initiators can access which LUNs, an additional
step is required to complete the target configuration.

If you are using CHAP authentication of the initiators,
edit the /etc/tmiscsi/autosecrets file and add the secrets used by the
initiators to log in. The /etc/tmiscsi/autosecrets file contains one
entry per target. Each entry has the following format:

target_name
chap_namechap_secret

If you are using ACLs to indicate which initiators can
access which LUNs, edit the /etc/tmiscsi/access_lists file and add one
entry per target. Each entry has the following format: